


Fishing for Inner Peace (and for Spare Parts)

by Featherine_Aurora



Series: Taroverse fics [3]
Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Development, Developing Relationship, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Personal Growth, Post-Canon, Relationship(s), Yuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:13:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21957193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Featherine_Aurora/pseuds/Featherine_Aurora
Summary: While the war against the machines is over, the struggle to survive in this harsh world continues. Life carries on and the androids do their best to make the most of things. A2 finds herself doing the same, with some help from those in the resistance camp. One day, Anemone makes an odd request, one that leads to A2 finding herself spending more time with her old comrade and connecting with her to a degree that A2 never expected.
Relationships: A2 & Devola, A2 & Popola, A2/Anemone (NieR: Automata)
Series: Taroverse fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1538794
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

“I’ve heard you’ve taken up fishing, A2. Is that true?”.

A2 turned to face Anemone, surprised at the question. Yes, she had started while she had 2B’s pod following her around. It was a function of the that had surprising utility in finding useful items. That was why the pod had insisted she try it out. It was why she used it more than once. After a number of times doing it, she found it had another use beyond salvage collection. It was also relaxing. She found herself continuing it, even after the pod had returned to its rebuild owner. She had made a crude fishing rod and kept at it. But that was going to be a personal secret she’d be holding onto. 

“No, it’s not”. A2 kept a neutral expression as she responded and maintained it even as she saw the disappointment on Anemone’s face.

“Oh. Sorry for asking such a random question”.

“It’s fine”. A2 was glad that Anemone had accepted her answer. Unfortunately, one of the two androids she had been talking with decided to speak up. “She totally does. She even asked me for fishing tips”. 

That came from Devola, who responded to the glare A2 gave her and the confusion on Anemone’s face by giggling. Devola also shared some recipes for strong drinks that she liked. A2 had collected the ingredients for those multiple times and Devola had shared some of what she’d made with A2 each time. They’d talked often and shared sympathies over past experiences. Those talks could be uncomfortable, though it did help a bit to talk with another android that could understand certain experiances. A2 knew the feeling of being rejected by other androids, of being attacked by them. But she had at least been able to feel that she was in the right. The guilt Devola was made to feel for something that had nothing to do with her was something crueller. But Devola appreciated the sympathetic ear and A2 was happy to offer it for someone who took her humour well. She considered Devola to be a friend, though things were a bit rough between them.

Recently, Popola had asked her to reduce the number of times she helped Devola with those requests. Apparently, Devola was drinking too much. A2 didn’t think so, but she also knew that she herself was hardly a good judge for that sort of thing. She’d probably drink as much as Devola did if she could. Instead, she got into fights with random animals. So, out of her, Devola and Popola, Popola was definitely the one best to judge what was reckless and unhealthy behaviour. A2 decided to respect Popola’s request and reduce the times she got drink ingredients for Devola, even if it meant Devola had been annoyed with her and less generous when they did business.

Perhaps this was Devola’s revenge now? Popola at least looked like she disapproved. “A2, sorry that my sister did that. But I think a lot of androids here know about your hobby or have heard rumours”.

Devola stopped laughing. “Why are you apologising? I did nothing wrong”.

“What about revealing something that someone wants to be kept hidden?”.

“How is it hidden? Why even hide it?”. She turned from her sister to face A2, an annoyed look on her face. “A2, you’re being silly in hiding this from Anemone. It’s a hobby, that’s all. Besides, as Popola said, it’s hardly something that is that secret. You’ve not been good at hiding it at all. I’m sure she would have learned it eventually. Right, Anemone?”. 

Anemone didn’t respond. A2 glared at Devola for a moment. She was probably right, but A2 wasn’t going to admit it. In fact, as petty as this was, A2 decided to give her the iciest glare she could. She might regret it later. Devola had her own problems to deal with and hardly needed A2 being pointlessly irritable. But it felt nice now. Then she turned back to Anemone. It was time to admit the truth and hope nothing bad came from it. “Fine, I do indeed fish. Why do you want to know?”.

“I would like to fish with you”.

“… you want to what?”.

A2 had definitely not expected that. In response, Anemone, in a mocking tone, said “I said I want to fish with you. If your audio processor has become damaged, you really should have….”.

“I heard you perfectly”.

Anemone smiled. Well, at least that was a nice sight, even if it was from mocking her. Life was tough for everyone, but Anemone had unique and hard burdens on her as the leader of a community. She did a lot to help everyone get by and maintain some sort of structure to things. She’d helped A2, simply by accepting her into the community and giving her a place in it. For the sake of of that and for her old comrade, A2 was willing to take some jokes at her expense. At the same time, she hardly had any interest in changing her mannerisms. So, she asked “Are you really fucking serious about this?” in a tone that made it obvious that she found it hard to believe the request was genuine. . But Anemone knew her well, fortunately. Her response was simply to say “Yes”.

“Why?”. This was not a question A2 asked out of any intent to reject her request. Now that her hobby was known, she might as well accept it, even if it seemed stupid. But it was an odd request and the reason for it was something A2 really wanted to know.

“Because I’d like to spend some time with you, to be honest”. Anemone smiled at A2 for a moment, then switched to a thoughtful look as she continued. “Plus, fishing seems to be both a useful way to scavenge and a good way to relax. You’ve seemed to be calmer recently. I could really use something that could do that. That sort of relaxation would help me a lot”.

A2 took a moment to think about this. As she did, she decided Anemone was right. While A2 was definitely not untroubled, the time spent fishing had eased the strain of her burdens. So had her links to the resistance camp, especially Anemone and the twins. But that was definitely something she wasn’t going to admit, not right here in front of a possibly drunk and definitely still annoyed Devola. The important thing was that Anemone could benefit from some time fishing. It would also help A2 in giving her a way to help Anemone and to have a good reason to spend some time with her.

“Fine. You can join me. But you’ll need to bring your own fishing gear”.

“That’s fine. I know a member of our camp who sells that sort of thing. Well, he has since a particular android started asking for supplies for that”.

Anemone then left to tend to something, while A2 took a moment to consider that something. _I guess my efforts to keep my hobby hidden have been really shit. Does everyone know about it?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been ages since the previous chapter. This is something I wanted to get done before we started 2021. Hopefully, I've produced somethin decent and didn't mess up characterisation, at least not much.

That was how it had begun. Now she was here at one of her fishing spots again, ready to to do more of her hobby, but with her old comrade there.

_This is fucking ridiculous._

A2 let out a sigh, which got Anemone to look at her. But A2 didn’t say anything, so Anemone went back to preparing to fish. She’d brought an excess of supplies. A2 guessed that this was a friendly gesture, likely with the idea that A2 could be persuaded to take that excess of supplies with her. It was a way to get past A2’s reluctance to accept help. Anemone would call that her stubbornness. A2 didn’t agree, but she would concede that she was in a position where she needed to ask more of the resistance and of Anemone than she wanted. When she had reactivated, the Tower was gone. She couldn’t recall the details. Her memory had a big hole in it. She remembered how she’d made her way up part of the tower easily enough. Then her memory was just a fuzzy mess from there, with a few details there but everything else a mess. She had no idea what happened to the tower and had no idea how she had even left it.

_I have no idea how the war suddenly ended. I’m not even entirely sure that I’m the same android that entered it. With those 2B copies I saw in there and my missing memories, I could easily be a copy of A2._

For a while after her reactivation, she had been exploring the area in the hope of getting her bearing back. However, A2 had been reluctant to talk to anyone she knew. When she had eventually first tried to talk to someone she knew, it had been the machine Pascal. He was very accepting of others, as long as they didn’t have any ill intent towards his village. That sort of place seemed like an ideal resting spot and Pascal was a good source of information on the machines. However, A2 ended up both regretting her choice and discovering that her pre-tower memories weren’t necessarily all there when she found Pascal alone and trying to sell her parts that were clearly of his villagers. That made her continue to avoid contacting those she knew for a while longer. A2 was not ready for the possibility of finding any of them in a similar state to Pascal, just broken for reasons she might never understand. For that reason, she avoided the resistance camp and members of the resistance that she knew. A2 hadn’t been in touch with them since before she entered the main tower, when she was still carrying 2B’s sword. That was gone when she’d reactivated. Another mystery.

_I’m getting really fucking sick of all the mysteries._

It was that feeling that got her to interact with a resistance android again. It had been Jackass. That had cleared up the general situation of the war with the machines and of the resistance, though that talk had been peppered with rants from Jackass about how she intended to fuck up those who’d been screwing everyone around for thousands of years. After that, A2 had grudgingly accepted the need to go to the resistance camp for this area. Anemone hadn’t been happy with A2’s “vanishing act”, as she’d put it. 

“A2? Don’t ever disappear like that again”.

A2 looked up from the stream they were near. Anemone had started fishing, though was focused on A2. Anemone then clarified what she’d just said. “You had that expression on your face that you have whenever I try to talk to you about you avoiding us. It was a fair bet that you were thinking about that. I’m willing to forgive you for making us worry like that, but I really don’t want to go through that again”. 

“You know that I could easily been thinking about something else. I could have been thinking about…. Well, you know”. A2 grimaced at the thought of certain mutual painful memories. Anemone clearly understood what she meant instantly.

“I do. Yeah, you could have been thinking about that too”

“Too?”.

“Yeah, I dwell on that a lot as well”.

They were silent, the moment filled with a quiet understanding of what still lingered on both their minds after all this time. The memory of the comrades they’d lost in the Pearl Harbour operation would stay with them forever, no matter how many years would pass now from the recent end of the war. A2 was certain of that. A2 cast her own fishing line into the stream.

"If Number 4 was here, she'd know how to put a smile on both of our faces"

“Yeah. She was really good at making others smile. Even me".

Newer Yorha models didn't have a type quite like Number 4. A2 recalled a report about how Yorha had decided that her sort of cheery personality was a detriment for combat models.

_It's their loss._

Thinking of newer models, she had heard from Anemone that 9S were active. 9S was apparently fine. 2B was also active again somehow. A copy, maybe? Well, those two were together and supposedly doing okay. 9S had even passed an apology for A2 along to Anemone about trying to kill her. That was one less thing to worry about. But A2 still preferred to avoid 9S. A2 didn't feel ready to see him again.

Anemone was silent for a while. She then said “I hear that humans used to have rituals for remembering and honouring the dead. Would you like to try one of those with me? I have no idea if it'll matter much for beings like us. But I feel like I can't really enjoy this peace we have without doing something for the dead".

“I guess I could join in if you decide to do something. But you know I'm not good at sentimental shit". In fact, the idea didn’t appeal to A2 at all. But she didn’t want to shoot it down. Death was just that to her, but she might be willing to go with a farce like that for Anemone’s sake. A2 knew that she and Anemone had different ways of handling the grief that they had to deal with. Her own approach was that it was something where you had just suck it up and move on. Anemone was more sentimental. Well, to the degree that she could be while taking on the responsibilities she had effectively.

_She’s also lost a lot of her friends recently. That's something she’s probably not had time to fully deal with yet. That's got to be shit._

The world was so much different now in such a short space of time. A2 still wasn't sure how to deal with it all. There was so much change to deal with.

_There's still Anemone._

A2 did have that one thing remaining from the years she'd lived. She still had Anemone. That was reassuring. So was an idea that she suddenly had.

"Anemone? Are you intending to invite anyone but me to your memorial thing?".

"If that's okay with you".

"Sure. I guess we're really free to get others to acknowledge the truth. Yorha can't smother that any more". A2 laughed. "Never thought I'd see the day when we could get some justice for them. But that's actually possible now? Maybe there's actually something to look forward to in a shitass world like this".

Anemone nodded. She then had a pull on her line. After struggling with it a bit, she pulled something out. It was some sort of engine. They'd already been pulling up random bits of crap in the short amount of time they'd been fishing. But this particular bit of crap had Anemone looking pleased with it for some reason.

“This could be useful. It could either be used as parts or even as an extra power supply for some of the stuff in our base, if it works".

“So there’s actually some value to all this garbage we’re pulling out?".

"Yes. I wonder how so much of this stuff ended up in streams like this”. Anemone glanced thoughtfully down the stream. “Do you have any ideas?"

“Nope. Who gives a shit?".

* * *

They continued to fish for a while in silence. What they caught was mostly garbage, though Anemone insisted that a lot of that was potentially useful.

_She can take it all for all I care._

A2 did get a few useful parts out of it. That was nice, but the main value of her hobby was relaxation. As they were about to leave, Anemone spoke up.

"I've been looking through the files that Jackass found".

"Which ones?".

“Project Gestalt".

"Oh, those".

It was ancient history to A2, but there had been something interesting in those files that Jackass had already learnt. Apparently, some of the memories of the original humans stored for that project had later been used for project Yorha as the foundation for the personalities of their prototype androids.

"Jackass thinks she might be able to use what you can recall to find the particular personality you were based off".

A2 had some faint memories in her head, memories of a young girl living with a grandma that she loved very much. It wasn't her, yet those memories sent sparks of emotions through her. There was something about those faint memories that felt nice. They also made A2 feel a bit curious in the person who'd made them. What was that person like? Besides, it was hardly like A2 had anything better to do with her time. Why not indulge her curiosity?

"I just thought I should let you know, A2".

"Right. Thanks for letting me know".

The two of them set off on their way back to the base. It wasn't a long route, but it seemed to take forever with everything on A2's mind. There was the possible thing that Anemone wanted to do, talking to Jackass and she still needed to decide what to do about 9S and 2B. She could just ignore that forever, couldn't she? At the same time, her memories of the Pearl Harbour mission kept surfacing and joining the battle going on in her head.

Then, to add to that mess, a surprising voice called out to her.

“Hey there”.

They stopped walking and A2 spun around to face someone who she'd been sure she'd never talk to again. 

"Emil?"

The body was different. Emil now had a more humanoid body as opposed to the mobile shop that was the body A2 was used to. But that head was definitely Emil.

_He’s dead. How?_

A possible answer popped into her head. Emil did say there were many copies of his. Even with the Emil she knew and those other Emils in the desert now dead, there could be many Emils still around the world. That idea helped. But then Emil said something, in a scarily hopeful tone, that A2 had no idea how to respond to. 

“Kaine? Is that you?”.


End file.
